Mr. Davood Mahmoodnezhd:

I thank the committee on behalf of Iranian Christians. This is a major opportunity to represent Christians, who have no voice back home in Iran. I came to this country ten years ago because my life was in danger. They tried to kill me, so I left the country. When I came here and went to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to introduce myself as an asylum seeker, my interpreter was an officer from the Iranian embassy.

We are talking about persecution but it is not just in my country. We do not feel safe here as Christians. For that reason, I introduced myself as a Davood H. M., or no name. After my interview, my family back home was persecuted. It had to write a letter denying that I was a son or brother. My family denied any kind of connection. The committee can see that persecution of Christians is not just in that country. We must start from here and build some committee here that has a love for human beings.

Iran is a country in which one cannot choose the name of one's children. How can people have one faith? If one has a child, one has a booklet from which a name must be found. Most are from holy people. In Iran, one does not have any kind of freedom. Many Iranians are in prison just for saying what they think, feel and believe. Iran is a one-way system because of its regime and government.

A person who is in cannot come out and if I am born Muslim, I have to be Muslim. However, I choose my God and who I wanted to follow and serve. This is a crime in Iran.

In Iran now many Christians are in prison and do not have access to medical aid. They are persecuted and tortured. Sometimes it is one or two months until they can see a doctor. This is one of the big problems in prison in Iran. A Christian in prison there can be tortured. Since countries in Europe are focusing on Iran, the Iranian Government is not hanging or killing people in prison any more. They give a Christian a sentence and he stays there for five or ten years. Then, when he comes out afterwards, he has an accident. Somehow, someone comes to rob his house and kills him. Sometimes we think it is good for a Christian to be in prison because he is far safer there and can stay alive, but when he comes out, he has no chance.

This is a country where it is a crime for a person to say what he thinks and believes. In Iran, many Christians have somehow lost their family. Why is this? It is because those responsible find out about it and take the children away. Some families have to separate and defect as a result. The Iranian Government supports that.

As my colleague said, European countries must ask the Iranian ambassadors what they are doing in that country. They should come before this committee to answer these questions. Why have so many educated people left the country or elect not to stay there? I work as a pastor in two churches. When I arrived in this country with the help of the Lord we planned the churches in Dublin and Belfast. I would like to do that in my country and provide for people to practise Christianity or what they believe. In the 21st century it is very sad that a person has to go to another country to practice his faith. I thank the committee for this opportunity to speak.